Ignis Glaciesque
by emoraccoon
Summary: Set after the events of the movie, the guardians discover that there are other supernatural beings with the potential at becoming guardians out in the world, and not all of them are as accepting of the idea. Jack X OC
1. Chapter 1 - I'm nobody

The day was cold and bitter, however the skies were open and beautiful, the sun glistening on the snow below, the frosted ground melting ever so slightly to create a picturesque image. There were children playing in the softened snow, throwing snowballs and making sculptures out of the frozen flakes. Laughter filled the air, completely opposing the one individual sitting atop a leaf-less tree.

The girl looked no more than twenty years old, however her eyes, cold and hard, said otherwise. They were the colour of dying embers; deep red, with flecks of gold dashed through. Her long, unruly hair whipped around in the gusts of wind; it was loosely curled, beginning a deep, fiery red at the roots, gradually turning a lighter orange, the tips a bright yellow, like a fire. Her clothes were simple; a burgundy hoody covered her torso, the material made of a strange fabric that glittered yellow in the right light. Black leggings, cutting off mid-shin, and a small red and black plaid skirt adorned her lower appendages, while her feet were left barefoot. The bark around her feet was slightly scorched, as though her feet themselves had burned the tree.

She watched the children frolic happily, unsure of her own emotions. Watching the joy and elation made her want to mimic the mood; she was heavily influenced by the emotions around her. Passion was her strong point; she could amp up the heat between people if the feelings already existed. She thought herself a modern-day cupid. However, her own feelings were brooding, as she was never able to completely involve herself with everyone else, for they could not see or hear her.

A familiar boy caught her attention. He was conjuring up snowballs by some mystical powers which originated from the staff he refused to relinquish, manually throwing them at the children. His laugh was captivating, pure and free. He floated around, darting between the children unseen, launching snowballs at unsuspecting victims. His white hair, naturally mused by the winds, glittered with melted snow tousled through it. His hoodie, deep blue and sparkling white, was visibly damp, as were his brown pants. He, too, was shoeless.

His feet touched the ground, and he stepped back, looking at the environment around him; the children having fun, the adults smiling fondly at them. He was completely unacknowledged, no matter how much he was the centre of the fun and the life of the game, because he was invisible to these people.

He caught sight of the lonely girl in the tree; she looked like a little flame from the distance, her hair whipping around her face. What struck the boy as unusual was that she wasn't joining in on the fun with the other children; surely she didn't think herself too old to play?

With a sly smile on his face, the boy levitated toward her tree, not surprised she didn't notice his arrival. Her gaze was set on the horizon, presumably watching the clouds float along leisurely. Unable to hold his snarky grin back, he formed a snowball in his hands; perfectly crafted, the little ball of white nested in his hand naturally. He blew on the sphere; it glowed a soft blue as his breath hit it, returning to normal when he ceased.

Without a second thought, he lobbed the frozen ball towards the girl. It glided perfectly to her perch, her eyes lighting up with shock before the ball careened into her face. She was completely caught off guard, unable to balance herself as she fell backwards off her precarious branch. Before she landed in two feet of snow, something slowed her decent, until she hovered over the ground.

The boy was mixed with confusion and surprise; he wasn't keeping her suspended. He watched as the snow around her melted swiftly as the warm thermals kept her afloat, before she rearranged herself to stand on the ground, where only the snow about her feet began to melt, albeit at a slower pace.

"What the hell was that?" she quizzed aloud, looking up at where she had been no less than three seconds before. She spotted the boy, her eyes narrowing. Soft blue sparks jumped from her eyes, her gaze softening slightly, into something more mischievous.

Hastily, she bent down to form a snowball, far larger than needed. As she roughly shaped it in her hands, it was clear why she'd collected so much snow; it visibly melted the longer she fondled it. The misshapen ball of frost left her hand; the shot was true as it smacked the boy similarly in the face. Instead of a solid thunk of compressed snow, the ball was more like a slosh, and the clumps of watery now dribbled down his face instead of exploding around it.

Looking smug, the girl didn't expect what came next; the boy held the staff with two hands, blue veins of icicles venturing up the staff from where he grasped it, and waved it before him. Snowballs formed by the dozens before him, slowly rising from the ground. The girl, foreseeing being buried alive by snowballs, took a defensive stance.

With a swift movement of his staff, the snowballs all soared towards her with devastating speed. She threw her hands out, palms facing the barrage of snowballs. It appeared she created an invisible barrier, because not one spec of shaved ice managed to get within a metre of her; it all melted away before evaporating into the atmosphere.

"That's taking it too far!" she accused, though it was clear she wasn't upset about it; there was a massive grin adorning her face. The boy was thoroughly confused; who on Earth was this girl? "It's about time you engaged contact."

He dug his staff into the ground and leaned on it casually, though still wore a face of befuddlement. "What? Who are you?"

She shrugged. "I'm nobody. You're Jack Frost, chosen by the Man in the Moon to be the winter spirit and Guardian of Fun."

How did she know all that? Jack was slightly troubled; he'd never seen this girl in his life, and he'd been around for a long time. "What are you?" he rephrased, hoping for a proper answer.

"The opposite of you," she answered ominously. Warm winds picked up and took her to the air, leaving Jack bewildered with more questions than answers.


	2. Chapter 2 - She wasn't normal!

"She wasn't normal," Jack insisted, pleading for attention.

North dropped all his things to his desk, looking at Jack with exasperation. "Jack, is almost Christmas. I don't have time for your mysterious women." His accent was Russian, not so thick as to not understand, but it was heavily implied.

"Christmas was two months ago," Jack countered, befuddled.

"Leave girl alone," North dismissed. "If she _is_ opposite to you, then she is fire, not ice. Not many people hear of Jack Frost; I imagine no one has heard of this girl with no name."

"I guess that would make sense," Jack mused. It definitely answered a lot of questions to think of her has a fire spirit; the melting snow, thermals to fly. "Why have we never heard of her, then?"

North sighed loudly, giving up. He knew Jack wouldn't give up until he had at least one answer to his problem. "I ask Man in Moon."

"Thank you."

The hefty man left his desk, little elves scurrying after him, curious. North went to the railing that overlooked his entire workshop; levels upon levels of toy making goodness. Suspended before him was a large model of Earth, with hundreds upon thousands of little lights flashing over the continents. They were the children of the world who still believed in Santa Claus, in the Tooth Fairy, in the Easter Bunny, in the Sandman, and now, in Jack Frost. Their jobs as guardians were to protect the children of the world, and their powers came from the belief of the children.

North looked up through a large hole in the ceiling, a hole that opened up to view the moon. No matter what time of day or night, no matter what stage the moon was at during the month, it was always viewable by the hole in the workshop. The Man in the Moon, otherwise known as Manny, used this as the only means of communication with the guardians.

"Man in Moon," North addressed humbly. "Jack would like to know about mysterious girl." He didn't need to provide more details, explain the situation further; Manny knew everything about the guardians, because he was the Supreme Being who chose their existence.

Moonlight shone into the workshop, directly onto a beautiful podium made for this exact purpose; communication with Manny. The moonlight formed a rough figure of the girl in question before she burned up into fire. Jack had no idea what to gather from the little display as the moonlight receded, however there was understanding on North's expression.

"Thank you, Man in Moon," North bowed slightly, and turned to Jack in excitement. "She is like you!"

Jack frowned. "I still don't understand."

"She has powers, yes, but she is not guardian. You are winter spirit, Guardian of Fun, she is fire spirit, Guardian of Emotion."

"Wait, she's a guardian?" Jack asked incredulously. "You just said she wasn't!"

"Not yet, no," North smiled. "But she will be. Manny said so."

Jack groaned, unable to deal with North and his haphazard behaviour; he'd be all work and seriousness one second, and the next he'll be the typical jolly Santa Claus stereotype. Shaking his head, he walked over to the railing and gazed upon the large Earth model. There was no visible alteration between which lights represented what child, and whether that child believed in all the guardians, or just one, but somehow Jack just _knew_, like the other guardians. There weren't a great deal of children who believed in him, though there were more than before.

He stood there, contemplative. He'd never forget those three hundred years of loneliness; having no one believe in him, with only sparse encounters with the other guardians to keep him slightly sane. It was difficult for him to brood too often during those times, because the happiness of the children when he created a snow day was infectious; even if they weren't able to see him, engaging in their play and basking in their laughter was all he needed to keep going. That was the benefit of being Guardian of Fun, he'd decided long ago, before he even knew he was destined to become a guardian.

But, it seemed, this girl hadn't had the benefit of a carefree nature. Who knew how long she'd been wandering this place, all alone. What did being Guardian of Emotion entail, anyway? Jack could only wonder; perhaps it meant she could control people's emotions? Maybe she was influenced by them? Maybe it had nothing to do with emotions, just a vague title. It didn't matter.

It made sense that he'd never seen her before; he was snow, ice and everything cold, while she was fire. The two simply could not co-exist. It was evident enough in their first encounter; all the snow simply melted away from her. Jack frowned, perplexed. What had brought her over then?

He shrugged, not wanting to think about it. He would just find her and ask her himself. Maybe he could help her out of her loneliness, perhaps coax her to the workshop and convince her to become an official guardian. Then she wouldn't have to be alone anymore.

"Hey, Snowflake!"

Jack spun around, almost having a heart attack at seeing the six foot rabbit standing less than a half metre before him. His accent was Australian, which led to countless kangaroo jokes that Bunny didn't take very well. It wasn't evident how the giant hare and arrived at the workshop, but Jack knew how; Bunny was able to create magical burrows that led to wherever the rabbit wanted.

"Oh, hey there, Skippy," Jack smirked, glad that his initial shock hadn't been noticed.

Bunny glowered at him, baring his teeth and emitting a slight growl from deep in his throat. As far as rabbits went, Bunny was actually pretty terrifying if you didn't know him.

"Enough, you two!" North exclaimed, placing his hands on both their shoulders. Place would be an understatement; to Jack, it felt like a mountain had been unceremoniously dropped onto his shoulder. "We have work."

"What work?" Jack questioned.

Bunny laughed, taking a few steps – or rather, hops – back. "Didn't you get the memo? The Man in the Moon wants us to recruit a new guardian."

"Tooth and Sandy should be here soon," North quickly stated before an argument could happen. "Then, we devise plan to find girl."

"What," Jack spread his arms, motioning to himself. "Like you got me?" He frowned, looking at them accusingly. There was no way he was going to let them treat this girl like they did him. "Not a chance." This was going to be his solo mission; he wasn't letting them get anywhere near her. He felt a particular attachment, an obligation to protect her, knowing that she was lonely like he'd been.

North and Bunny exchanged looked, confused. They'd never seen Jack so riled up before. When they looked back at Jack, he was gone; where he'd previously been, snow gently fell to the workshop floor, delicately landing on the ground before melting and being soaked up.


End file.
